Is there a way to populate a dropdown list from another sheet?

Justin Mauzy · 05/05/21

I have a list of employees that change frequently in Sheet 1. I have a dropdown for employee in Sheet 2. Is there any way to populate the dropdown in Sheet 2 with the list from Sheet 1?

Example:

Sheet 2 has a column named Employee.

Sheet 1 has a column setup as a dropdown called Tech.

I want to take all of the names from the Employee column in Sheet 1 and populate the Tech column with the names.

Thanks in advance.

Mark Cronk · 05/06/21

Hi @Justin Mauzy ,

Unfortunately Smartsheet doesn't currently have the ability to create dynamic drop down options. I believe there are some 3rd party add on that will but I've never tried them. Someone else may have a creative solution for you.

Mark

Justin Mauzy · 05/06/21

Thank you.

Ken Pavell · 05/01/23

Has there been any update on this feature?

Andrée Starå · 05/01/23

Hi @Ken Pavell

I hope you're well and safe!

No, but you could use the Premium App, Data Shuttle, to populate Dropdown lists.

Is that an option?

I hope that helps!

Be safe, and have a fantastic week!

Best,

Andrée Starå | Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

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Danielle Wilson · 05/04/23

Hi @Justin Mauzy - I'd also recommend using Data Shuttle for this! https://help.smartsheet.com/articles/2482755-dynamic-dropdowns-data-shuttle

Roger_B · 06/05/23

I am doing something similar. What I did is to copy all the data from the sheet I wanted the dynmaic drop down and pasted into a new (unused) column. Then I changed the property of the column to dropdown list and let SS autopopulate the options. I could copy/paste from there so I knew the data would match.

It won't update or link to future data, but it does give you a start that's not a premium feature

Richard · 07/26/23

This should be a basic feature of the standard Smartsheet App. Not difficult me thinks. Thanks

Eric88 · 10/12/23

I second @Richard's comment.

This is a no-brainer feature. Smartsheet already easily links to other sheets. It should be really simple to do so for Dropdown lists.

This should be a standard feature and shouldn't require finding a 3rd party developer to create a workaround.

The lack of this feature causes so much needless aggravation.

@smartsheet - Is this feature being worked on?

Stephen F · 11/14/23

So disappointed to read lookup to another sheet is not possible. Why is there a contact list template if it cannot be referenced from another sheet? There is no relational quality to this platform, right?

Meszarj · 03/29/24

if I am reading this correctly, the only way to do this is to use a third party add-on (DataShuttle), move the data off Smartsheet and then bring back to a different sheet. Seriously????

jodimseidl · 05/20/24

I agree it seems to be a very high stress point. My company will not invest more into datashuttle or the other features so I am at a roadblock. I really like smartsheet as a data handler, but it can be frustrating to create the things I need.

David Jasven · 06/27/24

I'm excited to introduce Submit, a tool I developed to seamlessly integrate with Smartsheet and enable dynamic dropdowns. Submit allows you to sync dropdown data from any column in any sheet, making your menus dynamic and context-specific.

Flexibility: Configure dynamic dropdowns from any column across your sheets.
Efficiency: Automate updates to your dropdowns, reducing manual entries and errors.
Enhanced Productivity: Focus more on meaningful work instead of routine data updates.

See Submit in Action!
Watch the video here and see how easy it is to keep your dropdowns updated and accurate.

Looking forward to hearing how Submit helps streamline your smartsheets!